Cloze tests assess the readability of a book for students in a far more personal way than formulas or standardized tests of reading comprehension. The cloze procedure reflects the total language abilities in the following ways: familiarity with sentence structure, context clues, and vocabulary, and the ability to draw inferences from written prose. Cloze tests can be used to identify students' retarded or superior reading ability, for research and diagnostic purposes, or in ways which vary according to what is to be measured. To construct a cloze test of readability, (1) select two representative passages from near the beginning of the book, (2) delete words to a regular pattern, and (3) delete a proportion of nouns approximately equal to one-fifth of the total number of nouns in the passage. To administer and score the test, have the students fill in each blank with the exact missing word, count correct responses, and convert correct responses to a percentage. The cloze procedure is particularly helpful at the high school level. All new entrants to the school can be given a cloze test, using the social studies text as their first topic. The scores from this test can give content area teachers better insight into the readers' understanding and ability, and into what will or will not be suitable instructional material for a specific purpose. (HOD)